Edinburgh Fringe LGBT Preview

British Theatre / Paul T Davis


Paul T Davies takes a look at some of the LGBT offerings at the Edinburgh Fringe 2018. Before heading to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival it’s worth accepting one fact of your visit. You will NEVER see everything you have put on your wish list. Several of them will be on at the same time, and unless you have cloned yourself or own a time machine, you’re never going to get around the city fast enough!

For the LGBTQ visitor though, there is plenty of work that should reflect your tastes and interest through every aspect of queer life. Not enough work is presented in regional theatre, or even mainstream, that reflects the lives of non traditional sexuality, so the festival is a perfect place to catch new writing and performances that reflect on  and celebrate queer life. Here’s just a small pick of the productions available.

A significant event to flag up is that the Army@TheFringe are exploring LGBT life for soldiers past and present in two shows staged at their Headquarters in Hepburn House, in association with Summerhall.

 

Forget Me Nots

Sophie May Nichols and her partner Anna Iris, who run the UK-Icelandic Rokkur Friggjar theatre company which focuses on new writing, queer and political theatre are presenting their latest production Forget Me Nots as part of the programme. Nichols says:“Army@TheFringe is giving us the chance to tell people about a different side of an important moment in Icelandic history. During the Second World War up to half the men in the country were British soldiers, giving rise to many love affairs. It was known as ‘The Situation’. Many were between men and women, and others between men – which is something that is still rarely spoken about. Forget Me Nots is about a young Icelandic man who gets caught up in ‘The Situation’ when he falls in love with a British soldier.”

 

Cezary Goes To War

A second production, Cezary Goes to War, is a piece of Polish queer theatre inspired by the director’s own memories of the military. It was the winner of the best artistic team award at the 2017 Divine Comedy Festival (Krakow) and is being supported by The Polish Cultural Institute. The Army@TheFringe programme has been supported by the Army LGBT Forum. Major Rob Ridley, Chair of the Army LGBT+ Forum, said:“It is great to see such diversity being explored in this year’s Army@TheFringe productions. “ We’ve come a long way!

 

Drip

I love writer Tom Wells, especially for his play Jumpers For Goalposts, which to my mind was the best British gay comedy since Beautiful Thing. His new one, Drip, gets a week run at Roundabout@Summerhall. Drip is a one man musical comedy about a 15-year old boy who signs up to Hull’s first ever synchronised swimming team, though he can’t swim. It tells a story of pride, friendship, and being a queer teenager in Hull. Yes, that sounds very Tom Wells!

 

Love Song to Lavendar Menace

High on my hit list is Love Song to Lavender Menace, an  80s gay romantic comedy about Scotland’s legendary radical lesbian, gay and feminist  bookshop, which had tremendous reviews following a sell out run at the Royal Lyceum Theatre.

 

Duckie

Cabaret wise, one act I am NOT going to miss is the fabulous Le Gateau Chocolat: ICONS, where the opera and Lycra loving cabaret star performs iconic stars from Pavarotti to Whitney- this man has the most incredible voice. (Assembly George Square Gardens, venue 3). Intriguingly he is also presenting Duckie, his version of the Ugly Duckling story, children’s theatre at Summerhall- I’m tempted to see this!